


merry christmas, you’re being arrested

by lordofthunders



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Have a Good Day, I don’t know how to tag this, M/M, Merry Christmas I Guess, Mild Torture Reference but only a bit, civil war? i don’t know her, everyone’s friends in this, i have no idea about timelines here, ive given up on tagging, like no idea at all, this is definitely set after age of ultron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21958588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordofthunders/pseuds/lordofthunders
Summary: buckys been arrested and the avengers break him out. i’m shit at summaries but here we go.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Avengers Team, Bruce Banner/Thor, Clint Barton & Avengers Team, James "Bucky" Barnes & Avengers Team, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff & Avengers Team, Sam Wilson & Avengers Team, Steve Rogers & Avengers Team, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Thor & Avengers Team, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	merry christmas, you’re being arrested

**Author's Note:**

> this is based off a headcanon i saw once on instagram, hope you enjoy, merry xmas

‘guilty’

that one word ripped through the avengers like a bullet. an innocent man being sent down for something he couldn’t control. james buchanan ‘bucky’ barnes was being sent down for life for assassinating over 10 people, even though everyone knew it was the winter soldier.

the government didn’t tell them where bucky was going to be held, but within two hours of the trial tony had managed to pin his location down to a cave in  
‘sokovia?’ questioned sam,  
‘yes‘ replied tony  
‘oh no’ interrupted bruce  
‘is that the place we fought ultron?’ a puzzled thor said. his earth geography wasn’t the best  
‘yes thor. bruce you should have told him. you tell him everything,’ tony continued, ‘i’m pretty sure we know our way around sokovia, but for the newbies’ tony looked at sam, ‘and the ones who aren’t from earth’ tony looked at thor ‘bruce, i thought you taught thor where we’ve been in the world, have you guys been doing other things instead?’ bruce shot tony a look that said ‘don’t say another word or i’ll hulk smash you’ ‘anyway,’ tony continued, ‘i’ll explain where he is.’  
tony zoomed in on the map, and showed the avengers plus sam where bucky was held. bucky was in a cave, where hydra has been previously stationed, and where they had recruited pietro and wanda.

silence fell over the group when they realised where he was. 

bruce quietly left the room, pictures of sokovia and the destruction hulk caused racing through his head. clint started shaking, thinking of pietro sacrificing himself for clint and that child. tony started having flashbacks, he couldn’t get his head around how they managed to stop ultron, and how close he was to losing everyone. thor thinks about how close he was to dying trying to overload the system, the mighty thor dying? no one would want that! nat remembered how close she was to giving up hope and accepting her fate, something she hadn’t done for a long time, and steve? well steve just wanted his best friend, his brother, back, and the memories linked to the flying city? well he’d just have to push them down. he _had_ to focus. sam, however, had no idea on what the avengers faced in sokovia, so he did what he thought was the best option, he started figuring out how to get into sokovia, to find his boyfriend and fix his broken mind.  
the next few hours in the avengers compound was tough, with everyone trying to overcome their demons, and figure out how to sort out this mess

it was cold and dark in the ‘cell’ as it were, wherever bucky was held. he had no idea where he was, even though he understood the language, his captors wouldn’t say anything, no matter how much he tried to ask them. he just wanted to go home, back to his boyfriend, and back to the people he called a family, sure, steve and tony were loud in the bedroom and wouldn’t stop arguing about petty things but that was how they worked. they had been married for a couple of years, and that had been the best day of bucky’s life, seeing his best friend get married was something he never thought he would see. thor and bruce were so sweet, and everyone knew that they liked each other, so when they confessed their feelings to each other, they threw a party. they were engaged now, the wedding was in a few weeks. thor had made bucky feel welcome when he moved in to the tower, and they had many conversations about asgard and how bucky wanted to go there one day. nat was his newest best friend, they spent hours together talking about their backgrounds, learning that they were so similar, and helping each other through nightmares and anxiety attacks and the like. it was nice to have someone who had been through similar experiences, and not having the others be oblivious to everything he’d been through the past 70 years. and clint, well he didn’t really talk to clint that much, he was always with his wife and kids back at the farm, but when he did drop in, he bought fresh fruit from the farm, and bucky loved plum season. he also brought drawings from his kids, and they loved drawing bucky’s metal arm in so many different colours. and sam, god he loves that man. after escaping hydra and getting rid of the influences (apart from the arm) sam got to know bucky, and after all the apologising and therapy and all the sleepless nights, bucky got to know sam, like really got to know sam. they had been together for 2 years, and bucky loved waking up to sam every day, after the initial fear left him. it was what got him through the nightmares, and the night sweats, and everything that came with blocking hydra out his mind. that was the reason bucky was going to propose to sam, when he eventually made it out of this stinking cave and it’s wet walls and thirteen vault like doors that kept him from the outside world, and the shit food he had to eat because he knew they were watching through that small crack in the wall. he had been in there two days and he was already going to break

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

the next few days in the avengers tower was tense, with memories of sokovia tearing everyone apart. thor had managed to calm bruce down, and they had spent the last few days binge watching new girl, which was bruce’s favourite show. Clint had spent time at the farm, playing with his kids while keeping Pietro out of his mind as best he could. Nat had started ballet, pushing herself so much she threw up a couple of times. Tony stayed in his lab, fixing his suits and making some more. Steve went on so many runs, he’d go out at least five times per day, for a couple of hours each time. The only one who was trying to do something was sam, and after five days of moping, five days after the trial, he had had enough. ‘right guys, I know you’re all struggling with the whole sokovia business et al, but we need to focus. Some people are shutting themselves out, which is never good with mental illness. So you’re all gonna take it in turns to say whats been happening, and then we are  
going to focus on trying to get our friend out of there.’ Sam didn’t expect the amount of horrors that they had faced, and he made a mental note to get these guys a therapist.  
‘anyway, i made a powerpoint, and i would love it if you guys watched it’  
two hours later the avengers were sat around the table after watching sams powerpoint, and every slide was a different picture of bucky. they could tell sam was missing bucky, as everyone was missing him. the powerpoint had woken them up, and they were discussing on how to get into sokovia and getting bucky out.  
‘i’m not getting the green giant out, they’ll recognise him straight away’ bruce pointed out.  
‘good point. wear the hulk buster suit, that’ll work better’ tony suggested  
‘should i wear my old armour? the one i wore when we fought thanos?’ said thor  
‘yes. i’ll wear my stealth suit, nat? what are you gonna wear?’ steve questioned  
‘uh, i’ll just wear my costume. it’s not very recogniseable’ said nat  
‘i’ll wear mine too. i’ll just bring more arrows this time’ clint added  
‘ok, that’s sorted. everyone wear armour you didn’t wear in sokovia, and i’ll wear my regular stuff. everyone ready? wheels up in 3’

bucky woke sharply, another nightmare tearing through his mind. it had been another flashback, and it was so vivid that he thought it was real. it was from when he came out of cryo one time, when he had been a doll for hydra to play with, and they made him kill tony’s parents. he vividly remembered their faces, the screams, and the smell... dead bodies always smelt the same but howard stark had this expensive aftershave on, and that was all that bucky could remember, the smell of that rubbed on his clothes for the next few years, and all he could smell when he saw tony. tony has forgiven him for killing his parents, as he knew it wasn’t bucky, but the winter soldier. bucky felt so happy that he let him live in the tower, he would have been homeless otherwise. bucky looked around the cell, and tried to figure out where any weak points were. he had to get out of here before the flashbacks and nightmares got any worse.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

it was cold on the quinjet. they were flying in stealth mode to stop any planes seeing them. it was technically illegal to do this, but who cares. bucky was an avenger, and avengers stick together. no matter what. ‘we’re getting close to the jump point’ steve said. this was going to be a tense time for all of them, especially for sam, who had technically not done this before, but it was for bucky. steve sat with tony, hands interlocked, going over the plan. thor and bruce were checking the kit, making sure they had everything, including a backup hulkbuster in case banner hulked out. thor was also trying to calm bruce down a lot, as he had started having a panic attack when they started flying over europe. nat was flying the quinjet, and kept herself busy with the controls, as it kept the demons at bay. sam was looking at pictures of bucky, and was repeating a mantra over and over. ‘bucky i will get you out, no matter what. whatever it takes.’  
‘guys, we’re coming up on the drop zone,’ nat shouted. they’d decided on parachuting into romania and walk into sokovia, to stay as under the radar as they could. ‘suit up.’ the next few minutes were full of checking and triple checking the parachutes, and putting bruce in the hulkbuster which was a task in itself. they patiently waited for the light to turn green. one second. two seconds. go.

bucky was lying on his bed, tears streaming down his face. he was unsuccessful with finding any weak spots, and they had caught on to what he was doing, so had handcuffed him to the bed. no position was comfortable, but the one he was in was slightly more comfortable than the others. he just wanted to see sam, and even though he kept pleading with the captors, they still wouldn’t say anything. this was mental and physical torture for him, and is definitely a breach of human rights as Bruce had taught him. he just wanted to go home, and get out of this shithole

They had been walking for three hours when they came across the iconic sokovian skyline. it had haunted their nightmares for years and they said they would never ever go back. following the map on tony's suit, they located exactly which cave bucky was housed in. their only issue was that they had to go through sokovia. there was no way they could go round. they started to creep through some newly built suburbs, some run down tower blocks, many playgrounds and remains from ultrons reign of terror. the avengers were using the breathing techniques that Sam had taught them, and they seemed to be working, no massive panic attacks yet. they turned the corner, and were faced with the church that they'd fought ultron in. newly refurbished, it looked a lot grander from when they had fought in it, but the memories still left scars. rubble was on the ground, marks from where tony, thor and vision had combined powers to defeat ultron. it was then that thor lost it. his mind was playing flashbacks in fast forward, all the memories racing through his head at a million miles an hour caused him to have a panic attack. Bruce immediately ran over to his fiance, enveloping him in a hug, and repeating his safe word over and over. the rest of the avengers gave them space, as bruce knew exactly what to do to calm thor down. twenty minutes later, thor came round, and made sure everyone else was ok first, then gathered his thoughts and carried on. they reached the cave and started their battle plan, bruce and sam would find bucky, and the others would distract everyone else. 

they entered the cave, and started the fight

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

bucky was so close to having a breakdown. he spent so long being hydras puppet, to now being back in the toy box. all he wanted to do was see sam again, even if he did have to deal with the jokes. suddenly he heard some russian swearing, and ‘get out of here, you aren’t all-‘ followed by some groaning. he stretched as far forward to the cell door as he could trying to look out the bars and see what the hell was going on. he didn’t expect to suddenly see bruce staring at him, saying ‘we haven’t got long’ and picking the lock. well, hacking the lock. when he got in and saw bucky chained to the bed, he did the least expected thing. he pulled out a hairpin and expertly picked the lock on the handcuffs. all of a sudden sam burst down the corridor, screaming bloody murder and ‘piss off you pricks’ but when he saw bucky, he stopped and started sprinting towards his love, enveloping him in a hug. they were frozen in that position for a few seconds until bruce whispered ‘guys, we need to move’ and started to run down the corridor. sam and bucky followed and were met by thor at the end of the corridor, wielding his axe and shocking the waves of guards that attempted to stop the god. thor grabbed bruce, and sheltering him behind him, started to guide the group down the corridor to freedom. 

*crash* ‘SHIT’  
‘NATASHA WHAT DID YOU DO’  
‘I’VE BROKEN MY ARM’  
‘oh noooo’ clint ran to natasha, who had somehow landed on the base of the cave, from three stories up. he threw his bow down, and she shot a hook arrow up, and clint pulled her up. tony and steve were a power couple, stunning and fighting any guards that came near them. thor, bruce, sam and bucky sprinted through the door, closely followed by some more guards.  
‘SORRY BOUT THAT, THESE BLOODY THINGS ARE EVERYWHERE’ thor shouted as he threw his axe in the air and caused a lightning storm. tony blasted the remaining guards and they were all left out of breath, surrounded by unconscious torturers. then bucky fainted.

he came round two days later, after the avengers carried his body back to the quinjet, and flew him back to the compound, and hooked him up to the monitors. F.R.I.D.A.Y did a quick diagnosis and diagnosed him with malnutrition, as he hadn’t had any food for the entire time he was there. when he came round, sam, who had spent every waking minute by his bedside, threw himself to his boyfriend, wanting to give him the biggest hug of his life, but restrained himself at the last minute. bucky looked like a wreck, more bruises than skin, cuts littering his body like confetti at a wedding. he wanted nothing more than to keep him safe. 

it was a few days later when SHIELD came knocking. the avengers were sat watching a movie when they walked in, and demanded they hand bucky over, tony said ‘no’  
‘why’  
‘technically bucky barnes has been dead for 70 years. this is my cousin sergei’  
the agents left in a huff, annoyed at this loophole they had found.

——

it was six months later, and a fully healed bucky and sam were helping the avengers decorate the compound for christmas. tony and steve spent a lot of time under the mistletoe, clint was using his bow to string tinsel across the walls, nat was hanging baubles on all the photos and the tree, and thor and bruce spent time in the kitchen, baking lots of christmas bakes.  
‘avengers, we need to do the annual christmas card!’ tony announced  
‘i have an idea!’ bucky shouted.  
he looked over at sam, and bent down onto one knee. ‘but before i say it, i just want the man that i love to become my husband. sam wilson, will you marry me.’  
cheers erupted from the avengers, with steve shouting the loudest. this was the best day ever, now to hear what bucky’s idea was.

the cave prison was still open after bucky escaped, waiting for the next prisoner to come in, when they got a christmas cars from the avengers.  
‘merry christmas from tony, steve, thor, bruce, clint, nat, sam and cousin sergei’ the message inside read  
the photo on the card?  
bucky with a pair of reindeer antlers on.

they kept up the tradition every year.


End file.
